Bloomfield's Strong 2nd Half
Leads To A Win at Montclair

MONTCLAIR- Bloomfield had not gotten the job done in the second half in its first two games this season, the first where the Bengals relinquished a 20-6 lead to Central before winning 26-20 in overtime, and then at Nutley in a 21-14 setback where they held a 7-0 halftime lead before being outscored 21-7 by the Maroon Raiders in the second half.

Next up was Saturday’s showdown at Woodman Field against a Montclair team Bloomfield had not defeated in a decade, and had beaten just four times in the previous 37 meetings between the two longtime local rivals dating back to 1991.

Something had to change, and even after the Bengals took a 14-7 lead following junior middle linebacker Tayler Guerrero’s key ‘Pick 6’ just 1:16 before halftime, Bloomfield knew that much more was needed in order to nail down victory No. 2 of the new season.

Spearheaded by the brilliant running of workhorse senior quarterback Jeremy Tejada who rushed for 201 yards and five touchdowns, the Bengals (2-1) outscored the Mounties (0-3), 32-14 in the second half, including posting 26 fourth quarter points en route to a 46-21 victory.

The 25-point margin of victory for the Bengals is their highest total vs. the Mounties since a 34-7 triumph over a Butch Fortunato-coached MHS team in 1974.

The 46 points scored by Bloomfield are the most vs. MHS since a 53-0 triumph against their neighborhood rivals way back in 1933.

It was Bloomfield’s first win over Montclair since 2015 and perhaps gives further evidence that a team that was just 3-7 last fall is ready to take another step up toward a winning season.

“The last couple of games we didn’t do a good job in the second half and we really wanted to come out here and make a statement with our play in the third and fourth quarters and through our performance be able to tell them that Bloomfield is continuing to come back off the mat and be a much better team,” said Guerrero who doubles as a running back in addition to his work at linebacker. “We were really focused in practice this week and we came here prepared to play much better football over the course of an entire game.”

Bloomfield, like Montclair, is a very young team with only 11 seniors on its roster, while the Mounties have just nine, and each squad made its share of mistakes in Saturday’s contest played on a sunny and hot and humid afternoon which led to frequent cramping by players; however, the Bengals appeared less weary in the second half due at least partly to having more depth, but also because of having more size up front to help move the football with backs such as Tejada, Guerrero (eight carries for 68 yards and a TD) and fellow juniors Aiden Cruz (eight carries for 50 yards) and Aaron Varner (four carries for 49 yards).

Opening up holes up front for the Bengal backs were a bevy of sturdy O-linemen including tri-captains Tyler Frantantoni and Shane Fernandez, fellow senior Isiah Figueroa, juniors Makai Douglas and Joelle Urdanivia and sophomores Declan Cunniffe and Ethan Concepcion.

“If it wasn’t for my line I wouldn’t have had the game I had today, and all those guys came out blocking so well from the start and continued at a high level in the second half when we built our lead,” said Tejada. “We’re much more focused as an entire team this season and this was a business trip here where we wanted to win for Coach Carter who means so much to us.”

Carter, whose Bengals defeated Montclair in his first game as head coach in September of 1991, has had tough sledding vs. the Mounties through the years; however, after Saturday’s emphatic victory, he was only interested in focusing on what his 2025 squad is accomplishing at the moment.

“We played a lot of guys today on both sides of the ball and they came out here with a total team effort,” said the 35th-year Bloomfield head mentor. “Montclair is always very well coached and Ronny (Anello) and his staff do a real good job.

“We knew it would be a physical game and it was. Tejada is one of those multi-sport kids who we’re getting more of these days, and we like that.

“We’re athletic and we have some strong kids and that certainly helped us here as well.”

Montclair, which has had some tough sledding out of the gates this season with road losses to St. Thomas Aquinas and Ridgewood coming into Saturday’s Bloomfield game, look to a converted wide receiver, junior Samad Jiles, to be the team’s primary quarterback and he was his team’s main offensive weapon vs. the Bengals completing 17-of-38 passes for 168 yards and 2 TDs, while also rushing for 107 yards. And, even though he threw three interceptions, he continued to show more positives as a burgeoning offensive cog for the Mounties.

“Samad has been playing the quarterback position for us only for about a month, and although he’s probably our best wide receiver, we just felt we needed to ask him to be our quarterback this season and he continues to get better each week,” said Anello, who took the reins of the Mounties football program when former head coach Jermain Johnson resigned last May and is now Bloomfield’s defensive coordinator. “We feel like our passing game will continue to improve moving forward.”

Junior wide receiver Jesiah Godfrey-Pelham had a strong effort vs. Bloomfield with eight receptions for 72 yards. And, while Jiles was his team’s leading rusher, fellow junior Zahkir Huff also chipped in with seven carries for 43 yards.

Jiles had to head to the sidelines for a couple of plays after being banged up during his team’s superb 9-play, 78-yard drive that bridged the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter; but his backup, senior Jake Martin, did a nice job while stepping in for a few plays, executing well, including delivering a 3-yard TD pass to junior Gabriel Gill to pull the Mounties to within 20-14 with 11:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.     

"It never really felt we were ever out of the game, but I think they just beat us off the ball in the second half, and all the credit to them," continued Anello. “We’re very young at a number of positions and it’s going to take some time, but we do feel that we’re having some really good moments out there in the course of the game and we just have to continue to try and cut down on our mistakes as we move forward.

“Our players come ready to work hard, they listen to their coaches and they to keep improving each week.“

While Bloomfield hosts winless Barringer Friday night (Sept. 19) at Foley Field, the Mounties face another formidable task as undefeated East Orange Campus (2-0) visits Woodman Field next Saturday (Sept. 20).      

Super Football Conference-Freedom Red Division Game, Sept. 13:
BLOOMFIELD (2-1)    7     7    6    26     - 46
MONTCLAIR (0-3)     7     0    0     14     - 21
M- Jesiah Godfrey-Pelham 1 pass from Samad Jiles (Quinn Previdi kick)
B- Jeremy Tejada 1 run (Joseph Hatton kick)
B- Tayler Guerrero 23 interception return (Hatton kick)
B- Tejada 15 run (kick failed)
M- Gabriel Gill 3 pass from Jake Martin (Previdi kick)
B- Tejada 51 run (pass failed)
B- Tejada 1 run (Hatton kick)
M- Gill 40 pass from Jiles (Previdi kick)
B- Tejada 65 run (Hatton kick)
B- Guerrero 17 run (kick failed)